According to a recent report from market researcher IDC, faster and lower-priced iPhone versions, launched in China, helped Apple gain global smartphone market share from its closest rival – the BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) – during the first quarter this year.

As per the IDC statistics, Apple’s global smartphone market share stood at 16.1 percent by the end of the first quarter, vis-à-vis its same quarter last year figures of 10.9 percent. In comparison, the share of RIM dropped from 20.9 percent to 19.4 percent.

Among the other smartphone manufacturers, the market share of Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, remained unchanged at 39.3 percent during the first quarter; while the share of Android-backer HTC rose from
4.3 percent to 4.8 percent; and Motorola’s shared increased to 4.2 percent from 3.4 percent.

IDC data further revealed that since the Finnish company Nokia does not rank in the top five smartphone vendors in the key US market, a distinct advantage in the country is still enjoyed by RIM with a 41.7 percent market share, as against Apple’s 17.2 percent share.

Some other statistics from the IDC showed that the smartphone sales during the first quarter saw an increase from 54.7 million units to 57 million units. Furthermore, IDC analyst Ramon Llamas expects a 30 percent increase – to
226.8 million - in smartphone shipments for the year.